recently

Jeff's graduation from UBC with a BSc in Nursing. So exciting that we're both all finished school! Hikes with friends. And our garden is looking better than it ever has thanks to some recent renovations and some plant-friendly spring weather (fingers crossed). 

meet the holiday cave explorers

These new cave explorers will be joining me at Portobello West along with a couple of other new miniature figure pieces this weekend. You might also find them in the Sadie shop this week, though the little man in the beige coat has already found a new home. These guys are really fun to make, but it takes me a long time between batches to find the right stones and materials to use. I'll be sure to let you know when more hit the shop!

In slightly unrelated news, my friend Laura came over last night and helped me do some major prepping for my upcoming shows. I have to thank her here so that you guys can all know how awesome she is! She helped me get all caught up on online orders, ensuring everyone who's ordered up to this point will get things in lots of time before the holidays, and having her and Emily here to chat with helped make the night fly by and we made a ton of stuff. So, thanks to both of you ladies for coming over to our new place! And thanks to Jeff for always taking things to the post office for me! He's the one who really makes sure you get your orders quickly! Looking forward to seeing everyone at Portobello West this weekend! I'll be at table 19, down the middle aisle just in front of the entrance! Stop by and say hi!

taking five

Jeff, Lola, and I spent the Thanksgiving weekend in Powell River at the cabin. The cabin is actually our friend Grady's house, which he shares with his awesome daughter Clancy and their cat, Mittens. We spent the weekend in a town of 20,000 without a whole lot to do. So we drank a lot of coffee, we made some delicious food (including a Tofurkey and cranberry sauce, which I love), and hung out with a lot of horses, dogs, and even a cat or two. It was pretty much heaven. Above you can see a picture of me with my giant dog friends, Honey and Bear (a.k.a. Chunkstar and Leo). You can also see our black and white dog, Lola, taking five. We took a lot of fives, too. Have you seen Fubar? You really should. Most of it was filmed in the city Jeff and I used to live in. It's kind of a must-see movie, whether you're Canadian or not. This trailer is definitely not suitable for work:

I'm going to Montreal this weekend to visit with friends and to spend some time in a fun city that I haven't been to in over nine years. It's a long overdue visit and I can't wait to hang out with Jeff, Jesse, Marigold, and Camilla all week long. I'll be back when I can with pictures and stories!

getting ready

Before the wedding I got ready with my best woman Heather, friend (and wedding sax player extraordinaire) Clancy, friend and make-up artist Jill, and my parents. Friends and family were coming in and out of the room we were in at the Sylvia Hotel and it was all beautifully captured by the amazing photographers we had. I will definitely be sending some of these photos on to the wonderful Jill who did an amazing job with my make-up. She even curled my eyelashes for me when my hands were shaking too much to do it myself. And that's what friends are for. All photos by Elle & R.

one day in vancouver

walking around gastown 

breakfast at acme café

lunch at finch's

picking berries in stanley park

the marine building

pixel orca, stanley park, ocean, mountains

giant beer

Jeff and I had one day off together after the wedding...these are a few of the things that we got up to and the things that I would do if I had just one day to visit Vancouver. We are still recovering from the excitement and energy output of the wedding. This is a nice city to sit in the sun in and contemplate good times with great friends. There is so much to see and do here and sometimes I really take it for granted. Gotta get in as much awesome Vancouver stuff as possible before summer weather is gone for good. If you ever come visit don't miss these restaurants. At Finch's I recommend the raspberry jam, brie, and black pepper baguette. It's the best.

two weeks until the wedding and we took a vacation from planning

This weekend Jeff and I took a vacation from all of our wedding responsibilities and went to Kelowna to hang with our friends Heather and Doug. Some vineyards were visited, trampolines were jumped on, mountains and lakes were enjoyed, and it was very, very hot the entire time! Awesome. If you've never been to the Okanagan Valley it's an amazing place that you would never guess was in Canada. A desert, perhaps best described in Stina's recent guest post. 

Two summery things that I really want to share with you:

The Summerhill Syrah Rose is amazing and fulfills #2 on the Village Voice's list of 11 Things You Really Must Do Before the Summer Is Over.

This zucchini bread is so delicious and easy to make, and I know many of you gardeners must be finding yourself with some extra zucchini these days.

Finally, I just want to say that I was very sad to hear about the passing of Jack Layton this morning when I woke up. I think he led his party with spirit that is missing from many all of our other politicians in Canada and I think his passing is a huge loss for us all. Jeff and I both loved his stint on the CBC working in a hospital ER room. We were always so impressed by his commitment to Canadians. He'll be missed.

five friday favourites: participaction

Do any of you lovely Canadians remember these gems?

Boy, we were a healthy nation in the 1980s (I'm assuming...I mean, check it out, everyone was psyched, wandering around with this "do it, do it, do it" song lodged in their brains). In the spirit of the long weekend here in British Columbia and with the ultra-positive encouragement of Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod (see below) here are a few good things to participate in this weekend. Check them out and then get out there and enjoy the weekend! Do it! Do it! Do it!

There is a Sadie Designs giveaway at Oh Mishka! You have until Sunday to enter. An amethyst core sample is up for grabs.

A giveaway for a beautiful Little Ocean necklace, discovered via Marie Bee.

I'm also really excited about this friendship bracelet swap at Grainline Studio. You have until Friday at midnight (any time zone) to sign up to be a part of it. Check out some of the amazing patterns for friendship bracelets on this site. Here are some that I made last summer when I had a busted ankle for weeks and weeks. Also '80s nostalgia.

And now a little DIY fun:

I really want to make this fringed suede clutch. It reminds me of an amazing pair of vintage winter boots I used to have, which I wore until they totally blew out. I got them for under ten bucks in Calgary, talking them down at the thrift store because the boots may have a had a little poop on them. Too much information? It was a long time ago...

Finally, Jill at LUNE always posts the best tutorials and DIY projects. Here's her latest, a video that shows you exactly how to wrap the most perfect summer beach bangle.

Enjoy! Happy weekend, everyone, and happy long weekend fellow British Columbians! What projects do you have planned? I'm making wedding decorations until I can't see straight!

walk

Have I told you lately that I love this city? Probably not, it's been hard to love endless cloudy days and rain, but I do still love it. We went on a long walk last night and it felt like the sun was almost going to come out...almost. The community gardens are raging, filled with flowers, raspberries, and lots and lots of leafy greens (which are very happy with the cool temperatures). I'm not going to show you pictures of my garden plot right now because it could use some love (and fertilizer). Soon I'll share!

We visited our old neighbourhood and walked down to the beach, under the Burrard Bridge and along False Creek. We saw 1/1000th of what makes this city so awesome. I'm doing a guest post about an excursion over at Chelsea and Charlotte's blog There&Here in a couple of weeks. It's going to be hard to choose where to go, though I have some ideas... Vancouver has endless excursion possibilities. What do you love about where you live?

license

This afternoon Jeff and I went to get our marriage license. We have just a month and a half until the big day! We got our license issued in the world's thinnest building in Vancouver's Chinatown. It's such a weird funhouse inside. Afterwards we celebrated with that seagull by eating Vietnamese subs on the stairs of the Vancouver Art Gallery. We're getting married!!!

summer mountains

Jeff and Lola and I spent the weekend in the mountains. This weekend. And yes, this weekend there was still lots of snow on the ground at higher elevations, like Joffre Lakes where we attempted an easy-ish 7km hike only to be turned around after crossing a boulder field and encountering yet more snow. Not that I don't like snow, I just don't love summer snow. The first four photos were taken in Pemberton, BC. I'd never been there before, but we both really liked it. It's outside of the tourist-y nonesense that is Whistler and just far enough from Vancouver to actually feel like it's not a part of Vancouver. It's also beautiful and has great breakfast joints, like The Pony Espresso. Now for an oldie but a goodie. Oh yeah, Jeff and I have been watching The Killing. Is anyone else into that show? I love that it's all filmed in Vancouver, in some pretty crazy locations like at the Save-On-Meats on Hastings. Don't tell me how the season ends, though! We're behind!

that post about summer hockey in vancouver

I'm going to let these pictures and videos do most of the storytelling, but I think it would be remiss of me to be a Vancouverite and not mention that something huge is going down here right now. The Vancouver Canucks are in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 17 years. Last evening was game two. To deal with the thousands of people who want to watch and party and parade around town with homemade Stanley Cups, the city has set up a bunch of outdoor screens, streets are closed, and people are high-fiving and slapping their bellies all over the place (seriously, that seems to be a way that men are celebrating this). We saw party RVs, almost got murdered by an airhorn blast of unrivalled power, snuck into the CBC plaza party, and watched the Canucks win with an overtime goal just 11 seconds into the first overtime period. Were you downtown or watching somewhere else last night? What are you doing for game three tomorrow? Are you, like me, a Flames fan who is just loving this for the atmosphere that it's creating in the city? I swear. Jeff and I are like, well, this is fun, but it's no 2004...and I don't get to scream "THAT'S MY NEIGHBOUR!!!" every time Martin Gelinas scores a series-winning goal. Check out some amazing photos and more over at the CBC.